Spain missing Nadal, Ferrer for tie with Canada

Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun01.22.2013

Canada's Milos Raonic hits the ball back between his legs to Switzerland's Roger Federer during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.

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VANCOUVER - Nadal-less and Ferrer-less, five-time champion Spain will be without its two top players for a Davis Cup World Group tie against Canada in Vancouver, Feb. 1-3.

Canada’s best player, Milos Raonic, has twice defeated Nicolas Almagro, the top-ranked singles player named to Spain’s team Tuesday, and the fast, hardcourt surface at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre is not the preferred arena for the claycourt-loving Spaniards.

The conditions are ripe for one of the great tennis upsets in recent memory -- or so Canada’s captain, Martin Laurendeau, would like to believe.

“The conditions are all set to make it very exciting,” said Laurendeau, in a conference call from Melbourne where he is taking in the Australian Open. “We all realize it’s a great opportunity. Their top guys are missing. It does offer a bit of extra motivation to seize this opportunity. We’re looking to win in the World Group (top 16 tennis countries) for the first time. We’re looking to make history.”

In the every-silver-lining-has-a-cloud department, however, Spain still represents a formidable opponent for Canada.

With a great depth of talent from which to draw -- Spain has seven players in the top 51 in the ATP rankings -- the Spaniards still have an armada-like array of shotmakers, even without Rafael Nadal (world No. 4) and David Ferrer (No.5).

Nadal, an 11-time Grand Slam champion, hasn’t played since June because of tendinitis and a stomach virus. He has announced his return to tour play will happen at the Chile Open, set for Feb. 4, a day after the first round of the Davis Cup ends.

Ferrer, who won more matches than any ATP player in 2012, announced in December that he would bypass the first round of the Davis Cup, owing to the demands of tour play. After losing the first two sets, and down 5-4 in the third, Ferrer staged an epic comeback to defeat Almagro for the 13th time in as many meetings in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open Tuesday. He moves on to play No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semis.

Almagro, the world’s 11th ranked singles player, the doubles team of Marc Lopez and Marcel Granollers and singles player Albert Ramos (No. 51) were nominated to play in Vancouver by Spanish team captain Alex Corretja.

Meanwhile, Laurendeau named Raonic, the world No. 15, Vasek Pospisil (No.127), Frank Dancevic (No. 165) and doubles specialist Daniel Nestor to the Canadian team. It’s the same Maple Leaf crew which lost 4-1 to France at UBC, in the first round of the 2012 Davis Cup World Group competition, last February.

“We’re using the same fast courts that we used against France,” Laurendeau said. “It’s the same surface they use in San Jose, and it suits Milos beautifully. He’s undefeated on those courts in singles play. He’s won in San Jose (ATP tour titles)twice on those courts. And he won his singles match convincingly last year against (Julien) Benneteau.”

Raonic’s straight set, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Benneteau in the second rubber of the first day a year ago was the only victory for Canada against the powerful French in their first-round series. Back then, two leading ATP players, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils, were girded to play for France and most observers were dismissive of Canada’s chances.

This time around, Laurendeau approaches Spain, knowing that his best player, Raonic, has twice dusted Almagro in head-to-head meetings. A year ago, Raonic defeated Almagro 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Chennai Open. (Raonic was ranked No. 35 in the world at the time; Almagro No. 10).

In April, Raonic again took the measure of Almagro, 6-3, 6-3, in the round of 16 at the Barcelona Open.

With Amalgro’s history of getting rattled, the pro-Canada crowd at UBC could play with his head.

“We’re excited to come back to Vancouver, where the crowds have been terrific,” Laurendeau said. “In the last tie against France, they were fantastic. We expect them to be behind us again, and it will be a huge advantage for us. We have control of the crowd and the courts. We’re very grateful to have avoided Spain outdoors, on clay.”

Nevertheless, Raonic will have to be at the top of his game to furnish the possibility of a titanic upset. And Canada will need an unlikely result against Lopez and Granollers, who won the doubles title at the 2012 ATP World finals.

“They’re an incredible doubles team,” Laurendeau said. “They’re in great form, and playing extremely well. Even without their top players, the Spanish team has a lot of depth. We will have to play very, very good tennis to win the tie.”

Spain, then the reigning champion, lost the 2012 Davis Cup final to the Czech Republic, 3-2, when Radek Stepanek, world No. 37, upset No. 11 Almagro in the deciding singles match.

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Spain missing Nadal, Ferrer for tie with Canada

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